How to Build Buzz Around Your Brand as an Entrepreneur
July 8, 2010
Jay Wilder of Brainshark, Michael Troiano of Holland-Mark, Kipp Bodnar of HubSpot and David Hauser of Grasshopper all have something in common. Even though their companies deal in B2B video, advertising, Inbound Marketing and startup software tools, respectively, there’s something tying them all together.
Each of these Boston-area companies have had a hand in creating remarkable brand strategy from the ground up through realtime web movement in a world focused on virality.
How do you use social media, utilize inbound marketing tactics, and promote your personal or company brand to get people talking about you and wanting to learn more about your product?
Last night, MassChallenge and Grasshopper teamed up to give dozens of entrepreneurs the chance to hear from a group of panelists who have done just this — created brand buzz to build their customer base. The event, dubbed How to Build Buzz around your Brand, was held at Microsoft N.E.R.D.
First you must get to the point of needing to create buzz around your brand or startup. Take the initiative and embrace the fact that you will fail a few times (probably seven times if you ask Michael Troiano). Find what drives you, what motivates you and keeps you wanting more throughout each day, and go get it. If you build that buzz around your team even prior to pitching your company, you will get people around you engaged and wanting to know more. How can you sustain this buzz and grow your following as a first-time startuper?
Jay Wilder of BrainShark: How to Clone Yourself
Jay realizes that all of us want to be in seven places at once and that we are constantly wondering how to maintain our brand. He showed entrepreneurs exactly how to do this. Jay related brand cloning and being in twenty places at once throughout the many digital worlds to wearing many hats at once with a comparative analogy to Lady Gaga. You have to be playing all angles at one time. The best way to do this is by finding a format, as BrainShark has created, to allow consumers of information to watch and disseminate information at their convenience and on their own time. By removing yourself from the equation and putting yourself into the shoes of your target audience you will start to create the content that finds the right kind of buzz. If you want to start creating that fire around your company, start answering the questions to the issues that you are coming across on a daily basis. Do this in forms of video, short presentations, live meetings or webinars and tweet out your calls to action. “These things will allow you to open up your time to do a lot more of the important things to grow your business. Remove the noise questions to allow focus.”
Michael Troiano for Holland-Mark: How to Take your Brand from Interesting to Imperative
“Startups fail because the dog won’t eat the dog food,” said Troiano. Buying powers and initiatives to buy have changed. The fact is it that people are not buying just to buy anymore. Consumers are people who change and we as consumers are no longer sitting back and buying whatever is thrown at us. We are taking information that we are fed through social media, through blogs, through the viral voice and vocalizing this information to affect brands in positive and negative ways. Michael has a theory that to be imperative you need to do four things:
1) Think about relevance. Are people willing to pay for your product?
2) Clarify your message. You must have shorter messages in the world we live in today that will keep your customers engaged from the very beginning. People are busy, cut down the clutter.
3) Create a consistent experience. Make sure you have your story down pat, remain consistent with that image in all facets of the business and promoting the business including your words, your tone, your actions and your visuals.
4) Drive engagement. “Listening is not optional in 2010.”
Kipp Bodnar of HubSpot: How to Use Creative Content to Jumpstart your Business
“Twenty percent of the searches have never been searched before. 80 million searches a day are brand new,” said Bodnar. The time to be an entrepreneur is now. The web is your oyster in BostInnovation’s eyes. The frontier explorers and creators of Inbound Marketing at HubSpot compel entrepreneurs to create outstanding content. The way to get found is not as tricky as you all might think. How can your business create the content that is not already out there and bring in the leads? Create content people are not yet looking for, perfection is irrelevant when it comes to content, pick a side that you believe strongly in and take that stance. HubSpot offers the best content on the web for Inbound Marketing and social media best practices; they were the creators of this topic. Their main advice for you is to take a step back and ask yourself when creating content, would I read this? In the words of HubSpot’s Bodnar, “if you would not read it then don’t ship it.”
David Hauser for Grasshopper: PR is Dead. Why Sales and Social Networking is Killing Traditional PR
Well, I loved this one. He didn’t have a PowerPoint, and started by telling us that PR is dead. “Press releases are a waste of time, a waste of money. The writer wants to know how they are going to generate more views. Turn your PR process into a sales process. Pick up the phone, call them and pitch your idea,” he said. I can say that from first hand knowledge Grasshopper is doing this right. Jonathan Kay of Grasshopper, the mediator of the panel and “Ambassador of Buzz” at the company does just this with BostInnovation. He promotes our content on Twitter and focuses on helping the startups we’re helping. Grasshopper has seen the process of finding buzz as an easy obstacle to overcome. An awesome way that Grasshopper engages their Twitter followers and customers through Twitter is by answering questions on Twitter and responding to the questions with their follows.
After each of these seasoned entrepreneurs spoke, I came across a common theme which seems to be circulating in the startup community: the only way to sustain your business and your hard work is by loving what you are doing. Find the passion inside of you; figure out what you love, this will push you and your team to create the buzz around you to make your company a success.
Need more inspiration to get after your social media, blogging and inbound marketing to create buzz?
Watch this video recently created by Grasshopper:
How is your startup creating buzz around your brand? What is your personal brand strategy to create that fire to sustain your brand?
Ali Powell
June 24, 2010
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